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Social Media Networks. . . the new kids on the block

We’re all now pretty familiar with the more established social networks such as Facebook and Twitter and getting to grips with their importance when developing marketing campaigns and connecting with our customers.

Early contenders like Classmates.com was launched way back in 1995 followed by Friends Reunited, in 2000 and LinkedIn in 2003. Flikr and Facebook came snapping at their heels in 2004 and Twitter in 2006.

Whilst we’re all becoming slaves to social giants Facebook and Twitter, maybe we need to come up for air and see what else is out there, specifically those being tipped as the ones to watch.

For whatever reason, the following 3 sites are being heralded as the next Social Media networks to keep an eye on.

Whisper
An iPhone app promising anonymity, Whisper is a place where users can post secrets (known as whispers) that appear in the form of an online postcard.

According to US online business forum, Business Insider, more than one million people have uploaded around 8 million whispers. Gaining steam among college students on campuses in America and a recent $3M worth of funding, could this be destined as the next big thing?

Medium
Being heralded by its founders as an extension of Twitter, Medium is quite simply a blogging site promising “A place where you can find and share knowledge, ideas and stories – specifically, ones that need more than 140 characters and are not just for your friends.”

Created by Evan Williams and Biz Stone, the guys who started Twitter and Blogger, you’d assume Medium has a fairly good chance of being the next big Social Media contender.

Sina Weibo
With twice the number of users, Sina Weibo is China’s version of Twitter and has been embraced by large brands such as Pizza Hut and some Western celebs like Tom Cruise, who apparently has more than 4.2 million followers.

According to Mashable, 22 percent of China’s internet population are signed up and there’s now a US version; only decipherable if you understand Mandarin Chinese!

I’m sure it’s going to be a while before any of these networks overtake the likes of Facebook and Twitter, but I’m sure we’ll all be whispering and Weibing to our customers in the not too distant future!